Ammonia (NH3) emissions, for example, from animal waste, are the cause of significant concern for both human and animal health. Such emissions further contribute to environmental degradation, such as ecosystem acidification, eutrophication of surface water and formation of particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 μm. It is estimated that animal agriculture contributes over 80% of atmospheric ammonia emissions, which the EPA National Emission Inventory calculated to be 2,418,595 tons in 2002. This represents a significant nitrogen nutrient loss to agriculture.
It would be environmentally advantageous to reduce ammonia emissions by recapturing the nitrogen, for example, in the form of ammonium sulfate solution, which can be a good nitrogen fertilizer source. However, known devices and methods, such as packed-bed scrubbers, while proven effective, present too much resistance to airflow to be used effectively with the ventilation fans currently in use in animal production facilities in the United States, for example, in composting houses for poultry waste. Such fans move large volumes of air at low pressures, and cannot overcome the air resistance of a packed bed scrubber. There is clearly a need for an effective scrubber device which can remove and capture ammonia emissions from animal wastes while working in conjunction with ventilation fans as currently used in animal production facilities in the United States, such as poultry waste composting houses.